No Broken Wands Allowed
by AshesGleamandGlow
Summary: It's been tradition for many years that any wand maker who comes across a magical with a specific kind of Mage Sight has first dibs on offering an apprenticeship to them. Because of some power hungry hotshot in the ministry hundreds of years ago, wand makers may only share secrets of their trade with their apprentices. Luckily for Ollivander, he finds one. ONE-SHOT AU, for the QFLC


**_Prompt:_ September:** _Madame Chang, Hermione Granger, Garrick Ollivander, Quirinus Quirrell_

 _ **Word Count:** 1,048_

 ** _000_**

Garrick Ollivander loved his job, truly, he did, but he could admit he had a number of pet peeves that had to do with it. For example, every time someone came to him with complaints that their wand wasn't working right anymore, he would almost always discover they'd never bothered with the proper maintenance for their wand, and he'd inevitably feel like introducing their faces with the pavement outside his store w. With their wands shoved somewhere they really didn't belong. Alas, he couldn't do that, he'd be put out of business if he did, and his father had made him promise to not ruin their family name for anything but something he would be willing to lay his own life down for. While Garrick loved wands and their lore, he'd rather not die for them.

But what confounded and frustrated him the most was the sheer lack of common sense wizards and witches had concerning their wands! A wand was a weapon when in the hands of any competent magical, so why didn't they treat them like one? Most wizards are guilty of putting their wands in their pockets, and some witches are, too. Other witches will put their wands in their hair, behind their ears, or even hide them in their clothes if prompted! What he couldn't understand was why they'd put an armed weapon that close to any part of them where they couldn't control if their magic entered their wand or not!

What wizards and witches didn't understand was a witch or wizard can cast through their wand without said wand being in their hand so long as it's on their person, while a sufficiently powerful witch or wizard can cast with their wand with up to a distance of a meter and a half between said wizard or witch and their wand. While it takes practice to truly be a master at the so-called "wandless magic", it can happen quite suddenly when under extreme emotions. The only way to protect against such a thing was with a magic-neutral wand holster, not to mention it would cut down the number of broken wands each year due to sitting on them, but because of "money opportunities", the ministry passed a law back in the early 1800s forbidding wand makers from providing such information to their customers! It really ruffled his feathers.

Sometimes, he wished he had an apprentice he could impart this knowledge on just so he would have SOMEONE that he could hold a good conversation with without him having to leave his homeland.

Garrick was brought out of his thoughts by his store door being opened and a small boy walking in, his eyes wide with wonder. Smiling, he was about to introduce himself to the young boy but paused before he even moved an inch. The boy's eyes were following streams of magic floating in the air, the same ones that told Garrick exactly what wands he had in his store and how the components of each wand worked together. The boy, a young Mister Potter if he wasn't mistaken, could only have the same kind of Mage Sight the best wand makers the world over had, that made it possible for them to be Masters of the craft. The kind of Mage Sight bearer that wand makers worldwide would start blood feuds over. And the boy just walked right into his store without a guardian or escort!

"Mr Potter, at last. Here for your first wand, I take it?" he said in his natural, quiet sounding voice.

Mr Potter jumped a little and quickly turned to face Garrick. Garrick chuckled.

"Sorry to startle you, dear boy," he remarked softly.

"Who're you, sir?" Mr Potter hesitantly asked.

"Garrick Ollivander, my boy, at your service. Now, here for your wand, yes?"

Mr Potter nodded enthusiastically, his eyes widening at the prospect. "Oh yes, sir, yes I am!"

"Then let's begin." Garrick grabbed his enchanted measuring tape and started taking a few unnecessary measurements to give himself the time he needed to find the materials that would most likely work the best with Mr Potter. Very quickly, he discovered that, like most wand maker apprentices, Mr Potter had the predisposition to work with many different materials, important when getting said materials to work together, but annoying when trying to get a single wand to work better for him than the others. And Mr Potter had more untapped talent than most apprentices did when they started, making it even harder to match a premade wand to him. But Garrick loved a challenge, and so he started on his pre-prepared lecture about his wands.

As he set about gathering various wands, Mr Potter asked a question that stopped Garrick dead in his tracks.

"Sir, are you sure those wands will work for me?"

Garrick was doubtful they'd work very well for the boy, too, but he was curious why the young Mr Potter thought so. So he asked, "Why wouldn't they?"

"Well," Mr Potter began slowly, "I can see these strands of light coming from each of the wands, usually four or five strands per wand, and each strand has a different… feel to it? Like, this one right here," he pointed to a nearby wand box, "this one has strands that feel like heat, sturdy, ridged, and tall, and none of those feel like they'd fit me very well."

Garrick Ollivander had experienced many strange and different things over the years, but none have reminded him of himself so strongly as what he'd heard just now. "Mr Potter, you have a talent I have only seen two other times, once in my teacher, once in a colleague of mine. I'd like to extend the offer of an apprenticeship to you, it'd be an absolute waste of potential not to."

Green eyes widened and chapped mouth fell open. Eleven old Harry James Potter, the kid all the other kids picked on and teased, was being offered an apprenticeship by the old, respected wand maker? Was this a dream?

"Y-yes!"

"Great! Now, the first thing you need to know is you should never place your wand anywhere but within a wand holster…"


End file.
